Roswell celebrates 150 years since Civil

ROSWELL, Ga. – Amid the shouting, screaming, crying and general confusion, 400 mill workers – mostly women and children – were taken by force from Roswell and transported to Indiana and Ohio to be charged with treason. Many were never heard from again.

This all happened at the height of the Civil War, in 1864, and for the sesquicentennial – that’s 150 years – Roswell recreated the scene on the town square July 12 and 13.

“By order of Gen. Sherman, you are hereby charged with treason,” said Union Maj. Michael Hitt as he read the order from Sherman to the mill workers.

Men dressed in Union blue (derogatively called “blueberries” by the Confederate women) fixed bayonets and forcibly rounded up women and hauled them off to meet their fate.